“The Invention of Hugo Cabret” lends itself to be taught in multiple ways. As a future teacher, I’m thinking of this book as an excellent opportunity to teach my students some key concepts in ELA in some new and unique ways. This story is told in many mediums, and therefore it can be taught in many mediums. That is what my LENS is going to explore. This LENS is geared toward current or future teachers, and includes examples of how one can use “Hugo” in the classroom to teach students about multiple genres/medias.
First of all, the book itself is written partially in standard text and partially in pure illustration (or what one might call a “graphic novel”). This is good for our readers who may get distracted or bored easily when there are just too many words on a page without a break. The drawings provide a nice “brain break” from the standard literary context, and they show students that they can explore the ideas in books in more ways than just the traditional.
Second of all, this book has just recently been turned into a major motion picture. Students can identify with it because it is presented in both text and movie format. As teachers, we can use outside resources like movies to help engage our students. Perhaps we have a student who is very visual; that student might get more out of watching the movie version of “Hugo”, or even watching the movie version in addition to reading the book. We need to be considering the different types of learners in our classroom when choosing assignments. We need to give our students options. After all, a classroom of 30, for example, has 30 very different people with 30 very different backgrounds and learning styles. We need to make sure that each student is being reached effectively. What better way to achieve this than by presenting our material through multiple medias? A movie is just one example.
When considering the genre of graphic novels, there is much for teachers to discover. This genre is somewhat lesser known than others, but it is nonetheless valuable. As teachers, we need to be getting our hands on some graphic novels so we can use them in the classroom. We also need to be educating ourselves about this genre so we know how to handle it. If we know enough about it to understand it, then we can employ it in meaningful and intentional ways. Graphic novels are great for our visual learners. They are also great for those who are heavily interested in things like movies, video games, comics, and art. For some, they can be an escape from the norm of literature as we know it. For others, it can be a new world in which they can explore and stretch their thinking. In any case, graphic novels should be included in ELA classrooms as part of diverse learning. Our class text, “The Pleasures of Children’s Literature”, sums this up pretty well in chapter 12 when it says of picture books, “Because they contain illustrations, picturebooks offer forms of pleasure different from those of other types of storytelling. Because they contain words, the pleasures they offer are different from those of other art forms” (page 277).
Overall, it is important to remember that not all of our students are going to enjoy reading in its traditional sense. Some students will have a conflict of interest, some will be more apt to other learning styles, and others will just simply not have the physical ability to focus on the page. We have to consider other ways to reach them. We have them for the allotted time they are in our classroom, and it is our job to teach them however we determine is best. An option we have is to consider other media, like graphic novels and movies, and I think this is great. I think that if we can help a student read, think about, and talk about the books we’re covering in class, then we’ve done our job. If using movies and comics and graphic novels to achieve this is what it takes, then I’m absolutely on board. “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” is an example of a text we can explore through different media.
"The Invention of Hugo Cabret"
“The Invention of Hugo Cabret” lends itself to be taught in multiple ways. As a future teacher, I’m thinking of this book as an excellent opportunity to teach my students some key concepts in ELA in some new and unique ways. This story is told in many mediums, and therefore it can be taught in many mediums. That is what my LENS is going to explore. This LENS is geared toward current or future teachers, and includes examples of how one can use “Hugo” in the classroom to teach students about multiple genres/medias.
First of all, the book itself is written partially in standard text and partially in pure illustration (or what one might call a “graphic novel”). This is good for our readers who may get distracted or bored easily when there are just too many words on a page without a break. The drawings provide a nice “brain break” from the standard literary context, and they show students that they can explore the ideas in books in more ways than just the traditional.
Second of all, this book has just recently been turned into a major motion picture. Students can identify with it because it is presented in both text and movie format. As teachers, we can use outside resources like movies to help engage our students. Perhaps we have a student who is very visual; that student might get more out of watching the movie version of “Hugo”, or even watching the movie version in addition to reading the book. We need to be considering the different types of learners in our classroom when choosing assignments. We need to give our students options. After all, a classroom of 30, for example, has 30 very different people with 30 very different backgrounds and learning styles. We need to make sure that each student is being reached effectively. What better way to achieve this than by presenting our material through multiple medias? A movie is just one example.
When considering the genre of graphic novels, there is much for teachers to discover. This genre is somewhat lesser known than others, but it is nonetheless valuable. As teachers, we need to be getting our hands on some graphic novels so we can use them in the classroom. We also need to be educating ourselves about this genre so we know how to handle it. If we know enough about it to understand it, then we can employ it in meaningful and intentional ways. Graphic novels are great for our visual learners. They are also great for those who are heavily interested in things like movies, video games, comics, and art. For some, they can be an escape from the norm of literature as we know it. For others, it can be a new world in which they can explore and stretch their thinking. In any case, graphic novels should be included in ELA classrooms as part of diverse learning. Our class text, “The Pleasures of Children’s Literature”, sums this up pretty well in chapter 12 when it says of picture books, “Because they contain illustrations, picturebooks offer forms of pleasure different from those of other types of storytelling. Because they contain words, the pleasures they offer are different from those of other art forms” (page 277).
Overall, it is important to remember that not all of our students are going to enjoy reading in its traditional sense. Some students will have a conflict of interest, some will be more apt to other learning styles, and others will just simply not have the physical ability to focus on the page. We have to consider other ways to reach them. We have them for the allotted time they are in our classroom, and it is our job to teach them however we determine is best. An option we have is to consider other media, like graphic novels and movies, and I think this is great. I think that if we can help a student read, think about, and talk about the books we’re covering in class, then we’ve done our job. If using movies and comics and graphic novels to achieve this is what it takes, then I’m absolutely on board. “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” is an example of a text we can explore through different media.